Association between killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor 2DS5 gene with essential hypertension in the Chinese Han patients

Abstract

Hypertension has been suggested to be mediated by immunity and inflammation. As immune system genes, killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) genes play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. We conducted a community population-based case-control study to analyse associations between KIR genes and hypertension. KIR genes were genotyped using sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction in 380 unrelated essential hypertensives and 527 normotensives. The frequencies of KIR2DS5 gene were significantly decreased in participants with high high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) compared with participants with low hsCRP (17.02% vs 34.08%, p = .016). The presence of KIR2DS5 gene was independently associated with decreased risk of hypertension (odds ratio = 0.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.43-0.89), after adjusted for conventional risk factors, hsCRP and other KIR genes. We found that participants with KIR2DS5 gene had a decreased risk of hypertension compared with participants without KIR2DS5 gene. Our findings suggested that KIR2DS5 gene may be protective against hypertension.

Expression of Killer Immunoglobulin Receptor Genes among HIV-Infected Individuals with Non-AIDS Comorbidities

“…However, we did not detect any significant difference in the expression of these genes between diabetics and non-diabetics among our study participants. While our results showed a significant difference in the frequency of KIR2DL3 between hypertensive and normotensive HIV-positive individuals, Wang et al reported a significant association between the expression of KIR2DS5 and decreased risk of hypertension [ 44 ]. While our data did not reveal any association between the expression of KIR genes and risk of non-AIDS comorbidities, this could be due to ethnicity, sample size, and the population under study.…”

“…Several studies reported on KIR genes expressions among individuals with chronic conditions such as diabetes [ 42 ], hypertension [ 44 ], malignancies (colorectal cancer [ 65 ], biliary cancer [ 32 ], breast cancer [ 66 ], and leukemia [ 67 , 68 ]), and primary immunodeficiency disorders such as common variable immune deficiency (CVID) [ 69 ]. While the frequency of KIR genes did not differ between diabetics and healthy controls among the Chinese Han [ 70 ], Basque [ 71 ], and Saudi populations [ 72 ], the expression of KIR2DL3 was significantly different among British HIV-naïve children (<5 years) with type 1 diabetes compared to healthy controls [ 73 ].…”

“…Few studies reported the association between KIR gene polymorphism and susceptibility to type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) [ 42 , 43 ], hypertension [ 44 ], and acute ischemic stroke [ 45 ]. KIR2DL2 was suggested as a susceptibility factor whereas KIR2DL1 and KIR2DL5 as protective factors for T1DM.…”

“…KIR2DL1 and KIR2DS1 were linked to a decreased risk of T1DM among Asians but not Caucasians [ 43 ]. Moreover, the expression of KIR2DS5 was suggested as protective against hypertension in a cohort of Chinese Han patients [ 44 ]. Higher frequencies of KIR2DL3 , KIR2DL5B , KIR2DS2 , and KIR2DS4 were reported among patients with ischemic stroke compared to healthy controls [ 45 ].…”